Vantage point: It’s the budget, stupid!
By:
CSBA President Jill Wynns
Published: November 15, 2012
Do we ever talk about anything else except the budget? During the more than 30 years I have been involved in public education in California, we have never had adequate funding for our schools. We have learned that we can equalize down, making all schools inadequately funded; and, shockingly, convincing many that we cannot afford a well-funded school system.
This year has been no different. In fact, it has been “all budget, all the time” on steroids. Our annual budget work always includes advocating for more school funding, and of course we must, and will, continue to do so. But we have also been engaged in discussions with the governor’s staff about their weighted pupil funding proposal. With the total consensus of our partners in the Education Coalition (a rare occurrence), we successfully blocked any implementation for this year.
While we all have different objections, CSBA insists on provisions that include a “hold harmless” provision for existing funding and also maintains the state’s obligation to repay deficits and deferrals. We will continue to lead the call for flexible funding that is fair to all districts, recognizing our unique funding challenges. We do not believe that fundamental changes to the school finance system should be initiated while major cuts to school funding continue. At the very least, such widespread change must be reviewed and discussed in appropriate policy settings including, of course, the education committees of the state Legislature.
At CSBA, we remain committed to the development of a new school finance system for California. Our legal action against the state in the Robles-Wong lawsuit asks for the entire school finance system to be declared unconstitutional, as we do not believe that the current system will ever provide the funding needed.
How can CSBA lead the debate about a new school funding system? We, like everyone else, have been primarily reacting to the governor’s funding proposal. Now, before the new Legislature begins its work in January, is our time to think about what a “fair and adequate” funding system could actually be. So we intend to do just that.
We do not know the outcome of the election at press time, and, as always, we operate in the atmosphere of uncertainty—even though one of our finance principles is that funding should be “reliable.” Our schools and districts can do a better job if they have some idea of what resources they will have. I know this is an astounding concept to us, reliability. Bring your best thinking to our discussions. You are the experts whose knowledge and wisdom we want to be included in these vital policy discussions, on which the future of the largest school system in the nation depends. Many expect us to follow whatever they decide. We have taken many bold steps this year; CSBA does not follow any longer.
Ensuring a bright future for our children, our state—our democracy—is the work CSBA will lead.
See you in San Francisco!